Intaglio printing machine



Feb. 12, 1952 A. P. BATTEY INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1947 Feb. 12, 1952 EY 2,585,617

INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE Feb. 12, 1952 A. P. BATTEY 2,585,617

INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE Fild March 28, 1947 4 Shee'ts-Sheet s g I I 1952 A. P. BATTEY INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 28, 1947 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE Alfred Pierssene Battey, Reigate, England, as-

signor to R. Hoe & Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 28, 1947, Serial No. 737,794 In Great Britain April 5, 1946 9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to intaglio printing machines especially of the rotary kind and deals more particularly with mechanism for cleaning the engraved surface after it has been inked and (usually) has had an initial cleaning as by being passed under a doctor blade mechanism.

At the present time the cleaning mechanism commonly comprises wiper cloths which are intermittently drawn over backing supports so positioned that the cloth passes between the support and the surface to be cleaned, the movement of the cloth being in the opposite sense to that of the cylinder as it passes the backing support; it is also common to arrangethe backing supports and the wiper cloths for a reciprocatory movement parallel with the axis of the cylinder.

According to this invention a backing support is not only reciprocated but also rocked about an axis which (in normal working) is at a fixed distance from the axis of the cylinder; this rocking movement is utilised to advance the wiping cloth, the cloth being drawn from a supply roll and taken up by a take up roll. In operation the backing support is, during the cleaning operation moved to carry its backing face (i. e. the face over which the cloth is taken) in a direction which is opposed to the direction of movement of the adjacent part of the periphery of the cylinder and during this action the cloth is caused to be advanced with the time at which movement takes place. As is also usual, a number of backing supports may be employed, each having its associated cloth, these supports being spaced about a section of the periphery of the printing cylinder.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end the support and so continuously to present a fresh surface to the surface to be cleaned.

In general, the support would be of part-cylindrical cross-section and the timing of operation would be such that a complete surface to be wiped is treated during the movement of the support in one direction, the support being returned to its original position during the time that a non-printing area of the cylinder moves into registry with the support. During this reverse movement of the support, the cloth affords no appreciable impedance so that the support merely slides under the cloth until the support is again reversed to resume its feeding operation on the cloth.

The extent of movement of the backing support can be arranged for adjustment.

The operating mechanism for the take up" roll may conveniently be connected to and controlled by the mechanism for imparting the rocking motion to the backing support so that the feed movement of the cloth due to the action of the support and the take-up movement of the cloth by the take-up roll is the same at'. both points as regards distance moved and elevation showing the apparatus of this invention applied to a printing machine, while Figures 2-5 are detail views, Figure 2 being an end elevation with certain parts broken away, Figure 3 a section on the line III-III Figure 2, Figure 4 a section on the line IV-IV Figure 2, Figure 5 a detailed sectional end elevation and Figure 6 a detail section on the line VI-VI Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, and considering firstly Figure 1 the printing machine shown comprises a printing cylinder I having an engraved or etched printing surface, an impression roller 2 between which and the cylinder l passes the material to be printed, and an inking mechanism 3 to apply ink to the etched surface. To remove surplus ink from the surface after it has been inked, any of the usual devices may be employed and as shown diagrammatically in Figure 1, rollers 4, 5 are used, the roller 4 being one with a soft yielding surface and the roller 5 being of metal, and having associated with it a scraper 5' to remove ink and direct it to a trough 5 The printing surface having been inked and the surplus ink having been removed from the surface it then passes in its rotation under three wiper cloths, indicated at B, which clean the surface as it passes to the printing zone, the cloths being drawn from supply rolls Ill, thence taken over backing supports 9 where the cloths are presented to the surface and finally are taken up on re-winding rolls I I. In general in the class of machine which requires the use of wiper cloths to produce satisfactory printing, the printing surface extends only partly around the periphery of the cylinder I; advantage is taken by this by utilising the backing supports 9 to move or feed the cloths in a direction opposed to the direction of movement oi. the printing surface while the surface is moving under them, and then when the printing surface has moved clear of the supports, to reverse them in readiness to advance a fresh section of the cloths; the cloths are thus given an intermittent feed, the cloths being taken from the supply rolls IE) and rewound on the take-up rolls II.

To utilise the supports for this purpose, the following arrangement is employed; all the supports are similar to one another and corresponding reierences will be employed for corresponding parts. Each support comprises a head 12 (see especially Figures 4 and 5) having fitted to it a part R3 of rubber or similar material and over which is strained a sheet l4 of American cloth or similar material, the cloth l4 being strained by securing its one end by a clamp i5 and by connecting its other end to a rotatable straining bar i5.

The head l2 and the pad 13 and cloth l4 extend longitudinally of the printing cylinder 5 and parallel with its axis; the head 12 is provided at intervals with supporting posts It which are slidable in bushes I! carried by a longitudinal support bar i8; the head 52 is resiliently urged towards the cylinder by springs 19 which react between adjustment nuts Zii on the bushes ill and a thrust ring 2| operating through pins 22 to transmit the spring pressure to the heads I 2, this pressure being applied, through the pad is and the cloth id to the wiper cloth 5 which is itself trained over guide rods 23 on the head and over the surface of the American cloth 84.

The head I2 is arcuately curved at its outer face and in order to utilise the head as a means for advancing the cloth intermittently, the head is arranged to be swung first in one direction about the axis of the arc of curvature and then in the reverse direction. Movement in one direction is timed to occur while the printing surface is passing under the wiper cloth 3 and in this movement the cloth is caused to be drawn over the printing surface in the opposite direction to the movement of that surface to eifect its cleaning. In the reverse movement which occurs when the gap in the printing surface is opposed to the head i2 this head :2 or more precisely the cloth l4 slides under the cloth 6 which remains held until when the head is again reversed at which time it again feeds forward a fresh section of cloth.

In the arrangement shown such an intermittent advancing operation on the cloth is employed in connection only with the two outer heads l2. To eflect this operation of those heads, the following construction is embodied for each of them. The bar [8 is provided with an extension [8' mounted at each end in a bush 24 (see especially Figure 4) which is mounted for oscillation in a frame member 25, the centre of the bush being concentric with the centre of the curvature of the curved surface presented by the wiper cloth 5 to the printing surface; the bush 24 is formed internally with a recess of generally rectangular form while the extensions iii of the bar iii are similarly formed as indicated. in Figure 6 to be a snug fit in the recess, this ensuring that turning movement of the bush 2 will cause corresponding turning movement of the bar l8 and hence a corresponding rocking movement of the head l2.

For the purpose of oscillating the bushes 24 they are secured to arms 26, which are respectively linked by rods 2? to arms 28 mounted on shafts 29 journalled in the side frame. Fast with those shafts 29 are arms 3!! which are linked by rods 3! to operating arms 32 pivotally mounted on shafts 33 also mounted in the side frame. In the case of one of the arms 32 its extremity is formed with a cam bowl 34 to engage a cam 35 on a shaft 36 which is driven through a gear 33 in timed relation with the rotation of the cylinder l. The other arm 32 is fast with a second arm 3'! also having a follower 38 to engage the cam 35. It is to be observed that the angular separation of the two cam followers 34, 33 about the cam 35 is related to the angular separation of the two heads l2 about the printing cylinder l. The bowls 34, 38 are maintained in engagement with the cams 35 as shown by springs 35; however the cams shown can be replaced by box cams.

It will be seen that as the cam 35 rotates in synchronism with the printing cylinder l, the first cam bowl 38 is displaced and this causes rocking movement of the arm 37, the shaft 33, the arm 32 and through the link 3i of the associated arm 30, shaft 29, link 23, and bush 24, corresponding to the lowermost head 22. As the cam 35 continues its rotation the other follower 34 sets up a similar cycle of operations through the arm 32, shaft 33, link 3!, arm rod 2'! and arm 26 to the other bush 25. It will be understood that the linkages referred to cause the bushes 2G to oscillate which in turn eifects the desired rocking movement of the bars l8 and hence the feeding of the wiper cloth {9 and the retraction of the head under the wiper cloth in readiness toeiiect a further feed to the wiper cloth.

As appears from Figure 1, the bushes 24 of the two heads referred to can be provided with arms 33 coupled by links 48 to bell crank levers M which are coupled bylinks 42 to operate the takeup spools H. In the case of the lowermost spool H, the rod 42 can be coupled direct through a pawl and ratchet mechanism to a take-up roller 43 and in the case of the rod 42 for the uppermost take-up roller ll could be coupled to a second bellcrank lever 44, in turn connected through a link 45 to an arm 46 operating a similar take-up roller 43. v

To eiiect adjustment of the amount of feed imparted to the wiper cloths 6 by the mechanism described, the arms 30 are provided with a series of holes 4'! as also are the appertaining arms 32, and these holes are formed on curved pitched lines so selected that while the rods 3| which are of constant length can be connected to the arms 30, 32 at difierent angular settings to vary the ratio of transmission and so to vary the degree of oscillation of the heads, the distance between the appertaining selected holes remains unaifected. Thus if it be desired to increase the amount of feed, then the rods 3| would be moved to a hole further from the axis of the shaft 33 carrying the arm 32, while the other end of the rod would be adjusted to a hole closer to the centre of the shaft 29 carrying the correspond ing arm 33. This, it will be noted, enables velocity ratio between the arms 30 and 32 to be regulated without disturbing the relative angular setting of these two arms.

The bars 18 not only of the outer heads l2 but also of the central head have imparted to them a reciprocatory movement so as to reciprocate the wiping cloths 6 lengthwise of the printing surface.

In order to efiect this longitudinal movement, there is provided a drive shaft 48 which at its upper end is provided with an eccentrically disposed pin 49 engaged by a connecting rod 50 pivotally connected at 5| to a pin 52 swivelled in the end of the bar I8, the rod 50 passing through the recess in the bush 24 and through the extension l8 of the bars l8; this extension is a sliding fit in the bush. so that as the shaft 48 is rotated, the eccentric pin 49 causes the connecting rod 50 to oscillate and this motion in turn is imparted through the pivot .srana "pin 52 w the bar l8 which is thus caused to slide back wards and forwards in its bush 24 while at the same time having oscillatory movement of the bush imparted to it. The bars I8 for the other two heads are similarly caused to slide butit has "been found desirable to arrange for these two latter heads, to be reciprocated at a speed different from that of the other head. To achieve this result, the shaft 48 has a gear 53 in mesh with a gear 54 on a lay shaft itself carrying eccentric pins 55 equivalent to the pin 49 at its upper and Ipwer'ends, these two pins also being con: nected by connecting rods 50 to the bars l8 of the two lower heads. As has been stated, in the case of the intermediate head, the rocking movement of that head is not relied upon to effect feed to the wiper cloth 6, and in the case of this head, it is supported for reciprocation in a recess formed in the frame 25 and located therein by a cap 56 as shown in Figure 2.

As has been stated the construction to effect the intermittent advancing of the wiper cloths applies only to the two outer heads I2; while a similar arrangement could be employed for the central head l2, the wiper cloth which passes over that head can be advanced in a manner which is common i. e. the head is stationary and its cloth 6 is drawn over it by the take-up movement of its take-up roll I l in this case the operation of the roll H would be timed to occur when the gap in the printing surface is, in register with the head, the cloth being stationary when the printing surface passes under it.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary intaglio printing machine comprising in combination a printing cylinder, a partcylindrical printing surface carried thereby, a a

support having an arcuately curved surface extending lengthwise of the cylinder, means carrying the support for rocking movement about a fixed axis coincidental with the axis of arcuate curvature of the said surface and parallel with the axis of the cylinder, a wiper cloth, means training that cloth over the curved surface of the support, and means to rock the support about the said fixed axis first in one direction while the printing surface is passing the support and then in the opposite direction when the printing surface has passed the support.

2. A rotary intaglio printing machine comprising in combination a printing cylinder, a partcylindrical printing surface carried thereby, a support having an arcuately curved surface extending lengthwise of the cylinder, means carrying the support for rocking movement about a fixed axis coincidental with the axis of arcuate curvature of the said surface and parallel with the axis of the cylinder, a wiper cloth, means training that cloth over the curved surface of the support, means to rock the support about the said fixed axis first in one direction while the printing surface is passing the support and then in the opposite direction when the printing surface has passed the support, and means to reciprocate the support in a direction parallel with its axis of rocking movement.

3. A rotary intaglio printing machine comprising in combination a printing cylinder, a partcylindrical printing surface carried thereby, a support having a curved surface extending lengthwise of the cylinder, means carrying the support for rocking movement about a, fixed axis surface of the." support, means to rock the -sup-" port first in one direction while the printing surface is passing the support and then in the otherdirection when the printing surface has passed the support, and means to adjust the extent of rocking movement.

4. A support for a wiper cloth for wiping the printing surface of an intaglio printing machine and comprising a head having an arcuate-surface to back a wiping cloth, the head being substantially co-extensive in length with the length of the surface to be wiped, a supporting bar, means mounting the head on the supporting bar, means resiliently to urge the head away from the bar, means to mount the bar for rocking movement about an axis co-incidental with the axis of curvature of the head, and means to mount the bar for reciprocating movement in a direction parallel with said axis.

5. A support for a wiper cloth for wiping th printing surface of an intaglio printing machine and comprising a head having an arcuate surface to back a wiping cloth, the head being substantially co-extensive in length with the length of the surface to be wiped, a supporting bar, means mounting the head on the supporting bar, means resiliently to urge the head away from the bar, spindle extensions at each end of the bar, supporting bushes in which said extensions are slidably mounted, means to impart a rocking movement to at least one bush whereby the head is rocked about an axis co-incidental with the axis of curvature of the curved surface of the head, and means to impart a reciprocating movement to the bar within the bush.

6. In a rotary intaglio printing machine having a frame and rotating members, a printing cylinder rotatable in the frame and carrying a curved printing surface, and a wiper cloth head having an arcuately curved face arranged to press the cloth against the said printing surface, the combination therewith of a support member reciprocable relatively to the frame and oscillatable on an axis parallel with that of the cylinder and coincidental with the axis of arcuate curvature of the said curved face, means to resiliently support the wiper cloth head on said support member and separate members moving one within the other and actuated by said rotating members of the machine for respectively, reciprocating and oscillating the wiper cloth head.

'7. In a rotary intaglio printing machine having a frame and rotating members, a printing cylinder rotatable in the frame and carrying a curved printing plate, and a wiper cloth head having an arcuately curved surface arranged to press the wiper cloth against the plate; the combination therewith of a support member reciprocable relative to the frame and oscillatable on a fixed axis parallel with that of the cylinder and coincidental with the axis of arcuate curvature of the said curved surface, means to resiliently support the wiper cloth head on said support member, and driving connections with said rotating members of the machine for respectively, reciprocating the wiper cloth head and for oscillating the wiper cloth head.

8. In a rotary intaglio printing machine having a frame and rotating members, a printing cylinder rotatable in the frame and carrying a curved printing plate, and a wiper cloth head having an arcuately curved surface arranged to press the cloth against the plate; the combination therewith of a bushing rotatable in the frame, a support member supporting the wiper cloth head 7 and axially reciprocable relative to the bushing but prevented from rotating relatively thereto, a rod within the bushing and connected to the Support, and driving connections with said rotating members of the machine for reciprocatin 5 the rod and for rocking the bushing in timed relation with the'rotation of the cylinder.

9. In a rotary intaglio printing machine having. a frame and rotating members, a printing cylinder rotatable in the frame and carrying a 10 curved printing plate, and a wiper cloth head having an arcuately curved surface arranged to press the' wiper cloth against the plate; the combination therewith of a bushing rotatable in the frame, a support member supporting the wiper 15 cloth'head and having an extension fitted to slide in the bushing and to be rotated thereby, a connecting rod within the extension having a REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number H I Name Date 575,633 Carson et a1. Jan. 19, 1879 657,14; Waite Sept. 4, 1900 1 ,774,499 Bennison Sept. 2, 1930 1 8181141 Waite Aug. 11, 1931 

